Google Android Wear, Operating System

Brief History

Android wear is a version of Google’s Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables that was launched March 18, 2018. It works by pairing with mobile phones running Android version 4.3 or newer, or iOS version 8.2 or newer with limited support from Google’s pairing application, Android wear integrates Google Assistant technology and mobile notifications into a smartwatch form factor. It also adds the ability to download applications from the Google Play Store directly through your wearable.

Android Wear Problems & Complaints

Although, Android wear seems like the future of computing, since devices are getting smaller and more convenient to use, the platform has had a lot of draw back from the community. Some of the major complaints derive from the clunky user interface, very little app or developer support, and navigation was a extremely tedious task since the user had to swipe through countless mini cards. Android released their, Android wear OS one year prior to the IOS release and quickly began to lose interest. In 2017 Android released version 2.0 which consisted of an updated user interface, support for standalone apps (as opposed to companion apps installed on your phone), better watch faces, cellular connectivity, and integration of the Google Assistant.But still, the apps weren’t there. This meant Android Wear devices were largely relegated to checking notifications, counting steps, and maybe measuring your heart rate from time to time. But here’s the thing, you don’t need a fancy smartwatch OS to do that, just get a cheap fitness band instead.

Android Wear’s second big issue: a lack of a proper smartwatch chip powering everything. For the Apple Watch, Tim Cook and co. designed its own line of custom smartwatch processors. Without a decent chip inside the devices to boost processing power and allow for higher metrics, Android Wear OS will continue to fall behind. Combined, these two obstacles have caused many major manufactures to give up on the Android Wear OS such as: Motorola, LG, and Asus.

Android Wear Latest Changes

Stated previously, Android Wear has not been as successful as they have originally hoped. As a new approach to the company they have changed their name from Android Wear to Wear OS completely dropping the Android name from the title. The main purpose of this change is to re-brand the idea of Android Wear in last hopes to get manufactures back into the wearable market. Wear OS, is trying to re invent their image to the public, trying to have their users forget about the problems found in the original Android Wear platform.